Skin and Soft Tissue Infections Flashcards
(96 cards)
What is the most common pathogen in skin abscesses?
S. aureus (75%)
What ate the main kinds of skin abscesses?
- nodules, carbuncles and furuncles
What is a nodule?
- painful and red in the dermis and deeper structures
What is a furuncles?
- boils in the hair follicle
- inflammatory nodule with overlying pustule collection in the dermis and the deeper structures
What are carbuncles?
- collection of furuncles
Where are skin abscesses usually located?
- on the back of the neck, face and axillae
What is the difference between an abscess and cellulitis?
Abscess - kind of like a pocket
Cellulitis - goes into the structure of the fat and the hair glands
Where does an abscess usually start?
- typically in the hair follicle
What is the general approach to treating skin abscesses?
- drainage plus/minus heat compresses by 30 minutes, 3-4 times daily for small lesions, or surgical incision and drainage for larger lesions
When is antimicrobial therapy needed to treat a skin abscess?
- for abscesses larger than 2 cms, multiple lesions, extensive cellulites, systemic signs of infection, indwelling medical device or immunocompromised
What are the 2 most common antibiotics for treating skin abscesses?
Cloxacillin
Cephalexin
What is the alternative therapy for treating skin abscess in a severe beta lactam allergy?
clindamycin
What is the risk of using Clindamycin to treat a skin abscess?
increasing resistance in S. aureus
What are the risk factors for a MRSA infection?
- MRSA colonization, close contact with MRSA infection, previous antimicrobials or S aureus infection particularly is treatment failure with regimen that lacked MRSA coverage
In what facilities are hospital acquired MRSA infections generally spread?
- medical procedures
- dialysis
- hospitalization
- long term care facilities
- higher antimicrobial resistance rates than CA strains
What antibiotics are MRSA resistant to? What causes this resistance
- penicillins
- cephalosporins
- carbapenams
– alterations in the penicillin binding protein causes this resistance to occur
How can S. aureus get into the body?
- natural bug on the skin- if a patient is immunocompromised or in the case of a cut it can get into the skin
What medications are used to treat community acquired skin and soft tissue infections?
- Clindamycin (if macrolide resistant there will be an increased risk of inducible clindamycin resistance developing during therapy)
- Doxycycline
- TMP-SMX
Explain an approach to managing patients with recurrent furuncles or carbuncles?
- S. aureus colonized (positive nasal swabs) - mupirocin 2% applied 2-3 time daily for 5 days every month
- decolonize their nose as a way to get rid of the staph where it is colonized. This can get rid of the skin and staph infections and these patients are susceptible to
Describe the characteristics and most common pathogens of impetigo?
- highest incidence in children 2-5 years old
- superficial infection of epidermis, 90% non-bullous, 10% bullous
What bacteria are potentially in non-bullous impetigo?
S aureus and S pyogenes
What bacteria are potentially in bullous impetigo?
S aureus
Gram positive cocci in clumps are _____
Staph aureus
Gram positive cocci in a chain are _____
Strep pyogenes